Aliens and Salvation: A Centuries-Long Religious Debate on Extraterrestrial Life

To the point

Religious thinkers—from Cotton Mather and Ellen G. White to Tim Burchett and JD Vance—have long asked whether intelligent aliens exist and how Jesus would redeem them, a spectrum of views that includes Cardinal McElroy challenging demon claims and Paul Gutjahr noting no single stance, while polls and Steven Spielberg’s films show how culture shapes beliefs about salvation, doctrine, and church authority.